Where are they supposed to learn from if you limit them?

Growing up in one of Bulawayo’s high density areas was quite an experience. Being the first on the streets to play and the last to be called in before dusk was a sign of good living. Computerised games were not the order of the day; studying and extra lessons were never part of day to day timetables of any kid.

During a normal day l would wake up in the morning take a bath and go to school. At 13.00 hrs come back home, change the uniform, eat lunch and then, let the games begin. We played from rakaraka, hwishu, umambodlela, 7 days, nhodo in shona or ingwini in Ndebele let alone mahumbwe or amadlwane.

Being a mother or father in amadlwane or mahumbwe was the most aspiring role and it was normally taken by the muscular and clever boys or the most beautiful ones in the case of girls. If you did not fit the role you were either the maid, child, the worst being was being the goat, witch or a dog.

Though children used to come back home with dust from hair to toe, the games were good tools for teaching them African socialization. At an early stage children will horn their skills of parenthood and learn what is expected of from a good citizen.

Such games seem to be vanishing one by one even in high densities, where they were most popular, they have been replaced by computer games and the most popularly extra lessons. Children spend 95% of their time doing schoolwork; extra lessons now start even at grade zero. Are the childhood games really dying out or they will be revived at some stage.

At grade three l was able to wash my stockings, uniform, and polish my shoes, but at form three some can not even wash their under clothes properly, let alone take a plate to the sink after eating. Jobs are scarce to come by, but being a maid is the easiest job to get, especially if you have the rural background. Has Zimbabwe become this highly technological that children have no need to learn the day to day house hold chores?

Some parents go on to disallow their kids to play with others on the streets, they say “achaita mweya we mulocation, kana womucamp  or komboni’’. (they will have the spirit of the high density, cantonment area”. Then l say to myself this is the child’s environment, why not let them explore their environment and make decisions about their lives based on what they learn from their peers and you as a parent. Doctors, pilots and presidents have come from these humble backgrounds.